A BARRIER TO SUCCESS?
Sealing vehicles against Hydrocarbon & Water

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All vehicles are subjected to extreme conditions – caused both by the heat, pressure and hydrocarbons used in the engine and by conditions on the road. Typically there are well over a hundred components in a vehicle that need to act as a barrier to either water or hydrocarbon vapour, and none are allowed to fail.

As liquids, water and hydrocarbons are easy to control, but as vapours they often pass virtually unhindered, even through the same, seemingly impenetrable materials and seals. A single new Vapour Permeability meter from Versaperm can help to ensure that this doesn’t happen. Traditional testing takes days or even weeks but the new equipment can do this easily, quickly and accurately, often in as little a half an hour.

The Vapour Permeability meter can be configured to measure the permeability of materials and components against water vapour or a wide range of and hydrocarbon (and other) based, gases including CO2, O2, H2, N<sub>2</sub> and refrigerants.

Results can be accurate to a few parts per million or billion depending on the vapour used for testing and the meter and can optionally deal with several samples at a time. Accuracy and repeatability are high and the equipment is simple to use, requiring at most minimal training.
As well as instrument sales the company also offers a comprehensive permeability laboratory testing service.

“The automotive industry tries exceptionally hard to prevent the need for vehicle recalls” said Versaperm Director Chris Roberts, “And at the same time it has become highly safety conscious and litigious. All of these factors have driven up the need for reliable fast testing and quality control.”